The Heir to the Sword
by Kaden627
Summary: This is a direct sequel to A Pair in Time. Link and Malon have a child named Erith. She was living a normal life until the evil wizard Vaati entered it and destroyed everything she loved. She must travel across Hyrule to discover her destiny to become the next Hero of Legend like her parents before her.
1. Prologue

The Heir to the Sword

By Kaden627

A direct sequel to _A Pair in Time_ based on _The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time_

Prologue

Every story needs a beginning as well as an end. For generations there has been tales of heroes and monsters in the land of Hyrule. The great cycle repeats itself when Hyrule is in it's greatest times of need. Darkness descends upon the kingdom threatening the balance of the entire world. Yet, in every cycle there is always a hero dressed in green who restores the balance and returns peace to the land. His courage was unmatched by any who stood in his way while traveling a noble path. Like any beginning of a hero, he was humble and kind to those around him. He lived life as a citizen before his time came to take up arms as a soldier for the light. However, the most recent in the cycle was not like this at all. He was born into a war torn world. His parents lost their lives delivering him to safety in the Kokiri Forest. The mother survived long enough to experience a fate worse than death, being consumed by the curse of the forest and forced to live out the rest of eternity as a creature of darkness. The boy grew up in the care of The Great Deku Tree, who shielded him from the curse as long as he could. When the boy was 9 however, a wicked man by the name of Ganondorf placed a curse on the Deku Tree himself. The chosen boy fought hard but in the end he couldn't save the Great Deku Tree. In its dying words, The Great Deku Tree sent the boy off on an adventure to save Hyrule with the assistance of a Fairy, Navi and gave them the spiritual stone of the forest.

The two traveled across the land to meet the Princess of Hyrule, Zelda. Along the way, the boy met a young redhead girl by the name of Malon. Malon was a strong and brave girl who became our hero's greatest friend. The two retrieved the remaining spiritual stones and made their way back to Castle Town to find Zelda and her servant Impa fleeing from the notorious king of Darkness, Ganondorf. As Zelda passed them she bestowed upon them the Ocarina of Time. Ganondorf decided to give chase to the princess rather than waste time with the two children. The boy and Malon entered the Temple of Time where they placed the spiritual stones on a pedestal which opened the Door of Time. Beyond the Door lied a weapon dormant for hundreds of years, The Master Sword.

Upon drawing the Sword from its pedestal, time itself collapsed and the boy, Navi, and Malon stood frozen in time for seven years. Ganondorf, during this time, managed to storm the sacred realm and claim the power of the goddesses, the mythical Triforce. However, the Triforce sensed his corrupted heart and tried to flee. Ganondorf managed to claim one piece, the Triforce of Power. The other two fragments, Courage and Wisdom, escaped and sought out new hosts. Wielding only one shard, Ganondorf managed to single handedly conquer the kingdom of Hyrule. The king was executed in the middle of castle town, and the life force was taken from those who defied to serve Ganondorf as their king.

While our hero was still frozen in time, the Princess received the Triforce of Wisdom while traveling with Impa. Impa saw this as an opportunity to teach Zelda in the ways of the Sheikah. Zelda managed to fool Ganondorf into thinking she was a boy named Sheik, the last of the Sheikah tribe. This disguise worked well enough for her to devise a plan for a counterattack once the forest boy was reawakened.

Once seven years had past the seal to the sacred realm was finally opened to free the boy and Malon from their slumber. Zelda, disguised as Sheik still, was awaiting their return and met them to direct them on how to revive the remaining 5 sages. The boy, or man as he was now, and his friends traveled across the kingdom freeing the sages Rauru, Saria, Darunia, Ruto, Impa, and Nabooru. Once they accomplished this Zelda removed her disguise and gave Malon the power to banish darkness, known as the Light Arrow. Malon and the full grown hero now only had one final quest, to destroy the King of Evil who reigned in what once was Hyrule Castle. The Sages provided our heroes with a path to the final battle that would decide the fate of the entire world. Upon reaching the final encounter the chosen hero was discovered to have received the Triforce of Courage, which he used to best Ganondorf.

In Ganondorf's last breaths, he decided to destroy his tower to kill Malon, Zelda, and the hero. But he didn't have the power to destroy it quick enough and our heroes escaped. To their surprise however, Ganondorf used the Triforce of Power to emerge from the rubble for one final showdown. The King of Evil unleashed the Spirit that gave him his true power. That Spirit's name was Ganon. The hero and Malon fought bravely but Ganon was too much even for them. So they devised one final plan of attack. Malon shot a Light Arrow into Ganon's forehead as the hero took out its legs. Zelda and the Sages used their power to restrain the monster as our hero delivered the final blow.

In the end the creature was too powerful to be completely destroyed at this time. So the Sages used their power to seal Ganon into the Master Sword itself. The Blade of Evil's Bane was returned to its pedestal and time shifted back to when the hero and Malon were children again. The hero is now and will forever be known as Link, The Hero of Time, as Malon will be remembered as The Maiden of Light. The two became lovers and lived at Malon's father's ranch until he passed away. To this day the two have lived peacefully there and raised their own child. The two vowed to tell no one of their story including their daughter at risk of endangering themselves and their child. This story is the adventure of that child, whose name was…


	2. Chapter 1

The Heir to the Sword

Chapter 1

Just a Casual Day

"Erith!" Malon yelled out to the ranch.

There was no response. Malon looked around for a while until she stumbled across a note in the barn that read, "I went to town to hang out with Zeepha. I'll be back for supper I promise."

Malon thought to herself, "Where does she get the nerve to just up and leave like this? She must get it from her father."

Castle Town was rather lively on this day. Packed enough that hardly anyone could see the small 11 year old girl trying to find her friends in this chaos. Erith was an adventurous child, you would never find her sitting still. She had blonde hair with red streaks down a few strands on both sides.

She ran through the market with grace, barely coming in contact with anyone. After about 10 minutes she finally spots her friend Zeepha. Who she ran up to and hugged. Zeepha was hesitant to do the same back.

Erith asked her friend, "How have you been? I haven't seen you in like a week."

Awkwardly Zeepha replied, "Well, my parents have kept me busy and stuff. So I haven't had much free time."

Erith was confused, "Don't you just come out and do stuff anyways? What your parents want had never bothered you before, so why now?"

"Well my parents are keeping a really close eye on me lately. I don't want to get in too much trouble."

Erith looked around, "Are they here, in town then?"

Zeepha replied, "No, I managed to slip away in between chores."

Erith gave a small chuckle and said, "Well done, you're already trained to be a stealth spy."

Zeepha awkwardly imitated the small laugh and smiled.

Erith saw this and said, "You just smiled. I've never seen you completely smile before, just small grins. Something has to be wrong, so what is it?"

Zeepha sighed and said, "Fine you got me, my dog just died today so I tried to cover it up by acting happy."

Erith turned straight to her companion and said, "I'm sorry Zeepha, you want to get some ice cream? That always makes me feel better when I'm down."

Zeepha shook her head no and said, "No, I should probably stop running away from it and go home."

Erith nodded and said, "It is getting close to supper time. So I should probably go home as well."

Zeepha asked, "Home?"

This caught Erith off guard, "Yes my home, the one on the farm in the middle of Hyrule field." She responded sarcastically.

Zeepha laughed, "Just kidding, calm yourself."

Erith smiled and said, "Alright, see you later!"

Erith left town and straight across the bridge leading to the vast Hyrule Field. It was an hour run to get to her home in time to eat. Her mother always required her to be home for supper so they can spend quality time together. Erith's father, Link, hardly ever seemed to be home. He helped out around the house when he was home but he was a knight in the Hyrule army. Upon him joining he was already given the rank of general, for reason's Erith didn't understand. This led to "Daddy issues" since she was 8 years old. Link and Malon were inseparable when they were together but functioned very well independently as well. Malon managed the farm, with Erith's help, whenever Link was away doing whatever he did as a general.

Erith made it home a little earlier than expected and her mother was waiting for her at the door.

Malon had her arms crossed and said, "Really Erith? A note is all you leave? I would have said you could go if you had just asked."

"If I would have asked, there would have been a possibility the answer would be no." Erith responded as she ran up and hugged her mother.

Malon wrapped her own arms around the child and picked her up laughing as she said, "You know this means you have cow duty tomorrow right?"

"I refuse, refute your logic and insert my own, I get to ride Hailey all day tomorrow." The girl responded with a smile.

Hailey is Erith's pet horse, the daughter of Link's horse, Epona. She was a Clydesdale like her mother. Hailey and Erith grew up together and love each other dearly. Occasionally Erith would stay out in the stables with Hailey at night and sing her to sleep. Hailey also once protected Erith from a group of muggers outside of Castle Town. The two were practically sisters.

Malon laughed and set her daughter down. "Can you help me prepare food?" She asked politely.

Erith nodded and came inside. The two cooked up a vegetable stew and cuckoo eggs for some protein. They set the table and sat down to eat when Erith saw something out their window. A man dressed in green riding on a horse near their house. She smiled and said, "Looks like it won't be just us two eating tonight."

Malon looked at the window and was overjoyed to see her husband trotting up to the farm house. "Wanna go greet him?"

Erith nodded and smiled as she got up from the table and sprinted out the door. "DADDY!" She screamed as she ran to him.

Link got off the horse and ran over to pick up his daughter and spin her in the air before bringing her into hug her. Malon came out as well and when Link put Erith down he hugged his wife.

Malon asked, "I thought you said you wouldn't be home for a couple of weeks?"

Link smiled back and answered, "Zelda gave me the day off as a reward for gathering information on Termina."

Malon kissed him on the cheek and said, "Well it's always nice to have you home."

Link turned to Erith and asked, "Hey, could you do me a favor? Could you put Epona in her stable for me?"

Erith took Epona's reins and started walking over to the stable saying, "Don't eat without me ok?"

Malon replied, "Don't worry dear, we won't"

Erith walked across the farm and horse track to the stables. She went into Epona's stable to put some hay in her bale. She rinsed off the aging horse and cleaned her. When she started to clean the legs though she noticed something. The horse was missing her birth scar on her front right leg. "You're not Epona!" She exclaimed. Then she realized a horrible stench emitting from the bag on the horse. She opened it quickly to see what was inside. Upon seeing it she gasped and threw up. It was a bag full of dismembered limbs, and at the top was her best friend's, Zeepha's, head. She stopped everything and sprinted towards the house screaming, "MOM THAT'S NOT DAD!"

She ran straight to the door and threw it open, tears in her eyes. Inside she saw a pale man dressed in a purple cloak, a hat with a red gem over his forehead covering grayish purple hair, and red eyes standing there. His body was surrounded by a dark aura. Behind him was Malon, floating in the air hopelessly trying to break free.

Then the man spoke in a menacing tone, "Why hello there, my child. Do you want to play a game?" The man smiled and began to laugh maniacally.


	3. Chapter 2

The Heir to the Sword

Chapter 2

Until…

The man laughed for a full minute before finally stopping. Then his gaze fixed on the little girl in front of him. He said, "Now you have to do exactly what I say if you want your mother to live."

Erith, still crying, managed to ask, "Who are you and what do you want with my family?"

The man just said, "I didn't tell you to speak. To show you that you must do as I say I will show you something now."

He raised his right arm to reveal a gray hand, and then he crossed his fingers. Immediately upon doing this, Malon's bone in her right arm snapped in half with a hideous twang. She screamed as the arm went limp.

Erith could only stand and watch as her mother was helplessly crying with a now broken arm. She fell to her knees and just nodded to show she understood.

Malon screamed at her daughter, "No Erith! Run, get away as fast as you can!"

The man in purple now looked at Malon and said, "You're in no position to speak either." The man cracked his wrist back. Malon's left leg rotated a complete half circle which tore the skin on the outside which started to bleed. Her leg's muscle was torn in half and the nerve was severed from her body. Now her leg was now as sagging as her arm.

Erith started to cry at her mother's pain. She had no idea what to do. If she ran, her mother would be killed and the man would find her and kill her too. If she stayed however, she risked both their lives as well.

The man cleared his throat, "Now I know what you're thinking. Won't I just kill you both anyways? The answer is no, if you are the child I'm looking for than I will spare you both. If you prove as useless as the other families with children your age. Well then I guess your fates are already sealed."

Erith back tracked her mind to the image of Zeepha's severed head. She thought to herself, "I have to be the one he's looking for otherwise I'll end up just like her."

"You seem like a smart kid." The man said, "So don't test me. Here's what I want you to do, take that sword down from the wall."

Erith got up slowly and walked over to the wall. She grabbed the sword, or more of as it was a dagger and took it off the wall.

The man laughed and said, "Now stab yourself in the left hand."

Malon shot back to life, "No Erith! Don't do it, please just run!"

The man's hand closed in a fist. Malon screamed as her right side rib cage shattered inside of her. She coughed and a steady stream of blood started to flow from her mouth.

This finally broke the child. Erith screamed, "Stop hurting my mom!" With the sword in hand she sprinted up to the man with tears streaming down her face.

The man just sighed and extended his free hand towards the girl. A dark aura surrounded the hand and Erith was stopped in her tracks, frozen and as helpless as her mother. "You are sure a courageous one alright. Just hope you are the courageous child I'm looking for. However, that was a rash reaction so you must be punished." The man threw his hand to the right and Erith followed until she hit the wall of her house and was pinned there in the air. Then the man said, "So I'm going to ensure this little incident doesn't repeat itself later." He rolled his wrist around so his hand made a circular motion.

Erith gasped as she felt her own right hand moving. Then in an instant, her hand made a quarter circle twist without the rest of her arm following, thus shattering her wrist's connection with the hand. She screamed in pain as the man dropped her to the ground.

The man smiled and raised out his hand to the girl once more, "It seems you are no longer capable of injuring yourself. I guess in the end the dirty work always has to come back to me."

The magic gripped Erith by her left wrist and made her put it up in the air. The dagger now levitated beside the hand and was about to pierce it.

The man twitched his thumb. The sword thrust at the hand and there was a bright yellow flash. The sword fell to the ground by the girl. On her left hand, still in the air and uninjured, glowed a yellow triangle with an upside down triangle missing from its center. The triangle on the bottom right had half of it glowing a brighter yellow than the rest of the symbol.

The man laughed, "Just as I thought. You are the child of the chosen hero." He turned to Malon and said, "Which means you must be the Maiden of Light."

Erith was stunned by this and asked, "What is going on right now?"

The man pinned Erith to the wall again and said. "If you want to know, I'll explain. Your mother and father were known as The Pair in Time. They traveled across Hyrule and saved the land from an unimaginable evil by the name of Ganon. That symbol on your left hand proves to me that this is who they are."

Erith asked, "What are you talking about? Who even are you?"

The man laughed and said, "My name is Vaati. I am a wizard of darkness and I have but one purpose in this world, and that is to blot out all the powers of the light."

Erith looked at her hand and put the pieces together quickly and became angry, "Wait a minute, you said if I was the child you were looking for you would spare me and my mother. If this power that I have is light, then won't you kill me anyway?"

Vaati chuckled and said, "Very good, you're smart. You have your father's intellect. But you were too late to figure that out now weren't you?" With his left hand still holding Erith in the air, he threw down his right one causing Malon to crash into the ground. Then his entire right arm took the form of a blade. He put it up to her throat and said, "Well I guess you'll have the comfort of knowing that your death will put an end to my killing for the time being. Or I guess you could also take the guilt for leading me straight here."

Erith then thought, "It was him, that's why Zeepha was acting so weird today. It wasn't Zeepha at all, it was Vaati."

Then Vaati said, "Well as fun as it was to meet you, this is where our interaction ends"

He brought back his arm sword and prepared to swing. On his slice however, he toppled over and fell to the ground. Erith fell to the ground, free from Vaati's magic. She looked up to see what had happened to see that her mother had thrown her crippled body onto the wizard.

Malon screamed to her daughter in a pleading manner, "Go now!"

Vaati threw Malon off of him and picked her body up by the neck and said, "You have irritated me enough." He thrust his blade through her sternum. Vaati stared into Malon's eyes as life slowly left them. His left arm took the form of a blade as well and cleaved her head straight off. Then Vaati turned around to face the girl who's mother he had just killed. But the girl was gone, along with the sword. Vaati laughed as he thought to himself, "This just got interesting." He picked up Malon's severed head and chuckled, "At least it wasn't a waste of my time, The Light Maiden will be my prize this day."

Erith ran and ran until she was so out of breath that she fell to her knees. She had taken the sword with her but it was pointless because she could barely wield it with her left hand because she was right hand dominant.

She thought to herself, "This can't be happening, there is no possible way this is happening right now." She looked at her left hand to notice the symbol on it had faded away. She started to cry upon realizing that her mother was dead by now. She had left before she could see the end result of her mother saving her but she was smart enough to assume she was dead. "This was all my fault, I led him to my house and now mom is dead." She thought to herself still in tears. But sorrow was replaced with alarm when she noticed what she had just done. Erith had run into the center of Hyrule Field just before the sun set.

"Damn it. I walked right into this one. Monsters come out during the night." She urgently told herself. She looked around but the nearest town was Kakariko Village, about 3 miles away. She started to run towards the village but didn't make it halfway before the sun set. While she was sprinting, a skeletal hand came out of the ground and caught her leg. She tumbled to the ground but the hand didn't let go. Another hand came out of the ground by it and pulled the rest of the skeleton out of the ground. The skeletal creature picked up Erith by her leg and held her up. It's lifeless orange eyes seemed to stare into her soul.

Erith struggled to break free but the monster's grip was too strong. She brought her left hand around, holding the sword, and dismembered the hand. She fell to the ground and rolled. The monster seemed unphased by the loss of its hand and began to pursue Erith.

Erith got to her feet and started to run again only to be stopped by two more of the same skeleton monsters. She skid to a stop just before reaching them. Both of them clambered towards her slowly. Erith put her sword behind her back and prepared for an attack. She thought to herself, "Come on, remember what dad taught me." When the two monsters were finally an arm's length away from her she wiped her sword forward and completed a 360 degree swing which cut both of her opponents in half. A blue flame engulfed the bones as they were drug back underground to be repaired.

The young girl saw this as her chance and sprinted as fast as she could towards Kakariko Village. She made it another mile before another hand sprung up out of the ground. Instead of grabbing her, this monster pierced her leg with its sharp fingertips. Erith stumbled and then fell to the ground. She tried to get up but the pain was too much from the wound. Four more creatures sprang forth from the ground and had surrounded her.

Erith thought to herself, "Is this really how it ends? I escape Vaati after my mom sacrifices herself for me just to die about 15 minutes later?" She was breathing surprisingly calm for someone who was about to be killed. She closed her eyes and prepared herself for her fate and she breathed out slowly and fell into a state of unconsciousness from the pain she had endured.

The monsters reached her worn out body and one raised its hand and struck downward. Before it reached her body however the hand was shot off. A person riding a horse approached from Kakariko Village. He charged in and trampled two of the skeletons with his horse. Then he pulled out his slingshot once more and shot the remaining monsters heads of. The skeletons, not dead but blinded staggered around to find their target.

While they stumbled the man brought Erith onto his horse and rode back into town as quickly as he could.

Erith opened her eyes slowly and her vision was blurry. She could make out a poorly focused image of a person looking down at her. "I'm dead, aren't I?" She asked in a whisper.

Then in a sarcastic voice the person looking down said, "No, but given the situation you were in, you should be."

Erith began to sit up and accidentally put pressure on her right hand. Pain shot up her arm as she threw herself back on the bed she happened to be laying on. She tried so hard to keep in the terrible things she was thinking from becoming verbally existent.

The person said, "Whoa slow down there, just get some rest ok?"

The voice to Erith sounded like a boy's voice and a rather young one at that. She looked down at her leg to see three finger sized holes on her right with dried blood surrounding them.

The boy said. "Yeah it looks bad, almost to the point where I doubt you could ever walk on your right leg again. I'm…" He stopped because Erith burst out in tears. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to tell you the bad news it just slipped out."

Erith shook her head and said, "No, it's not that, it's just…" The girl started to whimper and wiped her tears away with her left arm. "I just thought it was a nightmare. I would wake up tomorrow with my mother waiting to feed me and I would work like any normal day. But that can never happen anymore." She burst out crying again.

The boy was confused, "What the Hell happened to you out there? Where is your mother?"

Erith quivered as she remembered what took place. She barely got out, "She's… She's dead now…" She threw herself into the boy and wrapped her left arm around him with tears streaming down her face. She cried into his shoulder and the boy hugged back.

He stuttered to get out, "I'm… I'm so sorry to hear that."

Erith sniffled, "He's going to kill me too."

The boy asked, "Who is?"

"A wizard named Vaati." She answered softly.

"So he's at it again? Fine, it's time I end him." The boy replied.

Erith was shocked, "What? You know Vaati?" Her vision became clear and saw that the person she was talking too was a blonde haired boy no more than 12. "How do you know him?"

"Vaati is searching for people, children chosen by the gods to have their powers passed on from the last generation." He said.

Erith remembered the triangle symbol that appeared on her left hand. She thought to herself, "Is that the power he is talking about?"

The boy said, "The last purge Vaati made he killed many people of Hyrule in search for the Triforce of Wisdom. Eventually I confronted him in the Royal Courtyard and ended his search and killing spree."

Erith's jaw dropped in awe, she exclaimed, "You were the one who had the power he was looking for!"

The boy held up his left hand and the same symbol that appeared on Erith's hand earlier now took form on his own hand. The lower left triangle was half lighten up just as Erith's bottom right was.

The boy said, "I will avenge your mother, and promise with my life that Vaati will not hurt you! My name is Tacka and I will stop Vaati."

The girl shook her head, "I'm guessing you haven't seen what he is capable of in person yet."

Tacka put down his hand. "Oh and like you have" He said smugly.

Erith nodded and said, "Yes I actually have. He's the one who broke my wrist. He used magic to pin down both me and my mother. He did it with such ease too. Vaati must really be a master in his magic art."

"It doesn't matter, I have to stop him! It's my duty as a chosen hero." Tacka replied to this. "Vaati has to die now, before he can cause more terror."

Erith said in agreeance, "True, but I'm gona help too."

Tacka laughed as he asked, "Wait what? You can't even walk or wield a sword. How could you help stop him?"

Erith smirked and said, "Watch this." She put her left hand over her leg wounds and spoke, "Saphilara Enos." Erith grimaced in pain as the three holes were sealed and replaced with fresh skin. She threw her legs over the side of the bed and stood up. "See? Good as new."

Tacka chuckled as he said, "So you have learned some light magic. Cool but I know that spell. It doesn't work on bones. What are you going to do about your wrist?"

Erith responded, "My mom always keeps medicine at my house. If we can go back I can heal up and join you to kill Vaati."

Tacka stated, "You really want revenge don't you? Enough to go back home after everything you have been through. What's your name even?"

Erith nodded, "Vaati is strong but together we might stand a chance. And it's Erith." She looked around the small room and noticed there was no window. "So where are we exactly?"

Tacka answered, "Well let's go outside and find out."

Erith agreed, picked up her sword, put it through her belt, and walked to the door. Tacka followed and opened the door. A loud rumbling burst through it. The young girl walked through to see multiple stairwells leading downward. She asked again, "What is this place exactly?"

Tacka said again, "Wait till you get outside. I don't see a point in explaining something you'll figure out in like thirty seconds."

As they descended down the stairs, Erith started to hear music. The song got louder the further down she got. She thought to herself, "What the heck is that?" That thought didn't last long as they reached the bottom of the stairs and there stood a door. She opened it with her left hand and walked outside.


	4. Chapter 3

The Heir to the Sword

Chapter 3

A Return Home

Erith looked around and looked back at the building she had emerged from and smiled at the sight of it being a large windmill. This was her favorite town in all of Hyrule, Kakariko Village. She walked around the windmill to see a small drop which led to the rest of the town. She climbed down as Tacka followed by gracefully just jumping straight off while rolling on the ground for his landing.

Tacka upon finishing his roll and standing up looks back at Erith with a quirky smile. "Impressed?" He asked.

Erith responded, "If both my parents knew how to do that, why would I care if you can?" She walked right past him and gave no sense of care to what he had just accomplished. Her smile faded upon thinking of what her mother could do, and for all she knows her father could be dead as well.

Tacka saw this and asked, "Why so glum?"

She said in reply, "I have a broken wrist and my mother is most likely dead. So if you're done showing off like an asshole, I would like to get ready to counterattack Vaati."

"Alright then. Touchy touchy" Tacka said and then he pointed to the stables by the entrance of the town. The two walked over and Tacka walked straight up to the second horse stall. He put his hand out and a mustang nuzzled its nose in his palm. He looked at Erith and said, "This is Aqua, my only friend who survived the first of Vaati's raids."

Erith was instantly consumed with guilt upon realizing that Tacka had lost friends to Vaati as well and she was selfish enough not to ask. "I'm so sorry." Erith stuttered.

Tacka brushed it off, "It's really nothing, I promised myself I would avenge them so no point in feeling down about that unless I fail. The way I see it, people would prefer to remember them as they lived and not mourn their passing."

Erith burst into tears once again, "I… I can't… It's just…"

Tacka threw his arms around her once again. "It's okay, it took me a while too so don't think you aren't strong because of this." Erith sniffed in his shoulder as Tacka continued. "In fact, You've already proven that you are stronger than me. You faced Vaati all on your own. There was no way he could kill me because there were just too many people. But you, you showed true courage even in the face of death."

Erith drew back from his embrace. "That doesn't change the fact that I was scared. I wasn't strong enough to save my mom, so if I'm stronger than you, why do you think you can stop Vaati?"

Tacka shook his head, "Erith, having no fear is not what being a hero is about, it's what you do in those moments of fear that count. You choose to stand and fight which already makes you a hero. And as for stopping Vaati. I'm really not sure if I can to be honest. However, I can't give up before I try." He smiled at the young girl then added, "And we won't ever know if we can together if we don't fix your wrist so I say we should get going."

He jumped up on Aqua and extended his hand to help her up. To his surprise however, Erith backed up to get a running start and leaped onto the horse. She caught the foot brace on the opposite side of the saddle to stabilize herself as she perfectly balanced on the horse's back.

Erith said, "Alright, let's get going."

Tacka looked at her in disbelief at what she had just done for a couple seconds, shook his head to get focused, then finally replied, "Yeah we should. Where do you live?"

Erith answered, "Only place in the center of Hyrule Field."

Tacka said, "Oh, so you're a farm girl huh?"

Erith nodded and said, "Best ranch in all of Hyrule if I do say myself."

Tacka laughed, "More like the only one." Before Erith managed a comeback, Tacka kicked his horse's side and said, "Alright, let's go."

Aqua sprinted out of the stable and rushed out the gates of the town. The guard at the gate yelled at them as they past because they were riding so fast.

In Hyrule Field they ran a long ways. Erith looked at Tacka and saw his joy in his face. She thought to herself, "He must have just as fun as I do when I ride, maybe even more."

A couple of horses going to Kakariko Village passed them but they were going to fast to hear any interaction they may have had along the way. Five minutes had passed by the time they had reached the entrance to Lon Ranch.

The two dismounted their horse at the gate and tied her down to the fence. Aqua neighed as she laid down in the grass. Tacka looked at Erith and said, "Yes I know horses shouldn't lay down too often, but Aqua just really doesn't care.

Erith wasn't listening, she was looking at the sign to her ranch which now just read "Ranch". Erith tried as hard as she could to hold back tears.

Tacka saw this and said, "Hey what's wrong? I know it's a little soon…"

The young girl could no longer hold her emotions in. She fell to the ground crying.

Tacka ran up to her and threw his arms around her, "I'm so sorry I should have never brought you back here."

Erith shook her head. "Tacka, do you even know what this place was called?"

Tacka nodded and replied, "It was Lon Lon Ranch right?"

Erith told him, "It was, before my grandpa Talon passed away. We cut the first "Lon" out because it was now just my mother Malon's ranch."

Tacka looked at the sign that just read "Ranch" and shuttered. If the last Lon was taken out, he realized that it basically confirmed the fate of Erith's mother to her. He turned back to Erith and told her, "You know you don't have to come in right? I can get the medicine for you."

Erith exclaimed, "NO! I need to see what Vaati has done. I don't care if I'm not ready for it. I need to see what he has done that will have changed my life."

Erith stood up incredibly fast and sprinted into her farm. Tacka followed as fast as he could. The two ran until they came to the pasture in the middle of the ranch. That is when Erith collapsed to her knees and began to vomit. She was right, she wasn't prepared for what she saw. In the center of the pasture there stood a wooden post that held up a mangled body with no head. Erith could tell it was her mother's instantly because it was wearing her mother's favorite work dress. On the top of the post was a sign that read, "Never forget who's fault this was".

Erith's sadness was replaced with pure rage at the sight of this. "Vaati you asshole!" She yelled this in the air. Her left fist was clenched and shaking in anger.

Tacka saw this and just backed up as he didn't want to be anywhere near her while she was angry, especially since she had a sword sheathed on her belt.

Then from what seemed to be nowhere came a laugh, it grew louder and louder. To Erith it sounded all too familiar. She turned around to see none other than Vaati standing at the gate of the pasture.

Vaati gave a menacing smile. He then said, "Well if it isn't the two brats that managed to escape. I had a feeling the girl would be back soon but I could have never predicted that she would bring the Triforce of Wisdom as well. Or I should say half of it, isn't that right Tacka?"

Erith drew her sword and sprinted in at him, "Shut up you sick bastard!"

Vaati replied, "How rude." He vanished from his position then reappeared directly to the right of the running girl. He just held out his leg and tripped the girl.

Erith plummeted to the ground. She tried to catch herself and put out her right hand to do so. The moment it hit the ground, pain sprung up her arm, her elbow collapsed and she landed on her shoulder.

Vaati shook his head in disappointment. "I pre-assume you got your mouth from your farmgirl mother. Well let's see where that got her." He motioned his hand towards the post with the corpse on it. Then he added, "Well as much of a pleasure it was to see you both again. This will most likely be the last time I will see the two of you alive."

Tacka ran in with his own sword now drawn but as he sliced down at Vaati, the wizard disappeared. His voice lingered and said, "Goodbye you annoying brats."

"Damn it." Tacka said under his breath.

Erith slowly worked her way to her feet again. She yelled into the air, "YOU COWARD!"

There they stood in silence with the wind blowing in the background. After about a minute the two kids started to hear a buzzing. They looked around confused as it kept getting louder. Both of them decided to stand back to back to guard each other. In the buzzing came a voice, "Death is no coward. Death has nothing to fear." The kids saw in the distance a black wave of unknown creatures. The creatures were upon them in an instant giving off high pitched frequencies that were so loud the kids had to cover their ears. The small insect creatures then grew silent as they swarmed into one mass. A second wave of the insects approached carrying a giant black sword. Writing on the side of the sword read "Death's Caliber". When the second swarm dropped the sword near the mass of other bugs and merged with them they suddenly all disappeared. The sword was brought into the air by a mysterious power and seemed to be floating. From nowhere the voice said once again. "Death consumes all. Death will find all life and end it. Death now comes for you children."

Tacka and Erith jumped back from the sword as it swung down where they stood. Erith retaliated and swung back. But in the end there was nothing to swing back at and she stumbled to regain her balance after the missed swing. Then she was drug into the air by what she felt as an invisible hand. The black sword was brought back and looked as if it was prepared to cleave the small girl in half.

"Oh goddesses! This is it." Erith thought to herself frantically. "Wait unless…"

The invisible figure threw her in the air, cutting her off mid thought.

"Erith!" Tacka yelled as he helplessly watched what seemed to the final moments of his new friend.

The black sword flung around as Erith fell from in the air. The girl flipped around and put her left hand in the sword's path. A bright yellow flash occurred as the sword made contact with her hand. Regardless of the blow being deflected, Erith was still thrown incredibly fast to the ground.

The voice shrieked in disbelief at what just happened. Tacka stood there in total amazement at what he had just witnessed.

Erith was slow to get back to her feet. The triangle on her left hand was still emitting a great amount of light. Then a huge flash of light came from her hand and shown on the black sword. The creature that was holding it had now been revealed. It was a black cloaked monster with shadows surrounding its body. It's flesh was rotted away and a skeletal structure of a ram's head took the place of the creature's. It's eyes burned a crimson red. It gave a horrifying wail as it became visible to the children.

Tacka ran up to Erith to see if she was ok while the monster staggered around. Erith seemed to just be shook up about the blow she took. The triangle was still resonating on her hand. The boy pulled Erith by the shoulder to get her to run but she stood firm on her feet.

Tacka exclaimed to her, "Erith, we have to go."

The girl shook her head, "I'm not going anywhere. Not until this thing is dead."

Tacka responded, "You're injured and in no condition to fight. Erith, live to fight another day."

Erith completely ignored Tacka's last comment and yelled at the creature. "HEY!"

The skeletal goat shifted its gaze to stare the little girl directly in the eyes. "Death will end you now." It shot directly at her ready to finish what it had started. It's speed was incredible and it floated as it thrust in her direction.

Erith yelled again, "Stop and hear me out damn it!"

Right before reaching her the cloaked figure stopped. Its gaze never left the girl but it seemed to have relaxed.

Erith spoke, "You said you have no fear right?"

The monster responded, "Death has no fear."

Erith nodded and asked, "And you are Death, are you not?"

The monster replied. "Death is this sword. Death and the sword are one. Death is Death and nothing more or less."

"I'm just gona take that as a yes to you being Death." The girl responded. Then she added, "If Death has no fear, let me fight you at full strength. Right now I'm injured and am not ready to fight you, but let me use the medicine in my house and then we can have our duel."

Death slowly floated above the kids in front of them and was silent for a while. Then it finally replied, "Death has honor. Death allows for a fair fight."

Tacka's grip loosened on Erith's arm as he sighed with relief. Erith got out, "You won't regret it."

The two children walked to the farm house. Erith searched the cabinets and remembered that the medicine was actually in a jar in her parent's bedroom. She walked in and saw the jar. She felt the urge that she had since a child, the urge to break fragile pots. She picked it up and threw it, and it shattered against the wall. Inside the remains there lay a bottle with a blue liquid in it. She opened the bottle and drank the entire substance. Then next came a hideous cracking sound that came from her right hand. She yelled for a brief second but then her breathing became calm.

Tacka asked, "Did that do it?"

Erith rolled her right wrist and eventually whipped her hand forward. The girl smiled and replied, "Yep, it worked alright." Then she looked at Tacka and said, "Leave this fight to me ok?"

Tacka was shocked, "You can't be serious can you? That thing is literally Death incarnate. You can't beat him on your own."

Erith walked over to the closet in her parent's bedroom. She pulled out a blue shield with Hyrule's symbol on it. She strapped it on her back. "Just watch me." She replied. She drew her sword and walked back outside to see the floating shrouded figure waiting for her.

"Death grows impatient little girl." It said.

Erith walked up and said. "Well here I am. One thing quick though. This fight is between us two. Until I am out you can't attack Tacka alright?"

The creature asked in reply, "You wish to fight Death alone? So be it, Death allows this."

Tacka shook his head, "What the hell is she thinking? She's just gona get herself killed."

Erith raised her sword in the air to show that she was ready. The floating monster did the same and the fight had begun.

Dark Being From Beyond

 **Death Sword**

Erith back flipped away from Death Sword as it swiftly flew towards her. Then Death Sword pulled up his sword and swung down with the heavy sword directly where Erith was standing. Erith got on her hands and knees and had the shield on her back absorb the hit. Right after the blow she rolled to the side and got back on her feet. The young girl then hit away another attack with her sword as she ran up and swung her own blade at the monster. But her sword phased through the beast. The monster threw back its free hand and hit Erith off her feet.

Erith fell to the ground and caught herself fast enough to dodge another downswing of Death Sword's blade. She thought to herself. "Shit that was close. I can't even hit it's cloaked body. How do I beat it. Think Erith, Think! Cause at this moment your life actually depends on it."

Death Sword gave a terrifying screech as it swooped in the air and started to circle the girl in the air. The circles became smaller each time he looped around the girl. It eventually continued the circle until he was directly in front of the Erith as it thrust its sword downward at her.

Erith hopped to the side just narrowly missing the attack. The sword lodged into the ground beside her. She thought, "Now's my chance." She back flipped to a better position so she could build up some momentum. Erith took off and ran up the blunt side of Death's Caliber and thrust her own blade into the creature's ram shaped skull.

Death Sword roared in pain as it threw Erith from his sword. She gripped her handle tight and dislodge her blade from the monster's head. She flipped off and gracefully landed on her feet.

Tacka looked on in amazement. "Who is this girl? It seems like fighting is second nature for her."

Death Sword gave a hideous roar into the air as he collapsed to the ground just barely hanging on to its life.

Erith walked up to it and said, "You lose. Now go back to hell."

She jumped into the air and stabbed down into the monster's head one final time. It screamed as its life depleted. It yelled, "ARBITER! ARBITER!" Its red eyes started to fade black. Death's Caliber disintegrated in its hand.

Erith drew the sword out of the skull and started to walk away when she started to hear the buzzing sound once again. She turned back to see the insects flying away from the corpse and scattering into the air. This continued until nothing remained of her opponent and then there was silence.

Erith sheathed her sword and walked up to Tacka. "Well you happy? I didn't die."

Tacka just looked at her for a second. He swallowed and then asked, "What just happened?"

Erith smirked and said, "I guess when you're trained by the Hylian army general you learn a thing or two about fighting monsters."

Tacka shook his head to try and keep his cool. "You were trained by General Link? Why would he teach a little girl like you to fight like that?"

Erith responded, "Well being his daughter has to come with some perks I guess."

Tacka griped both of the girl's shoulders and said, "You are Link's daughter? Holy crap this is just crazy! And if you have a piece of the Triforce of Courage, that means Link must have been the Hero of Time!"

Erith kindly removed Tacka's hands from her own shoulders. "So you're saying that my dad has the other half? Wait, how did you get half then? Wouldn't one of your parents have had to be the bearer of the Triforce of Wisdom?"

Tacka nodded. "My mother was the chosen one by Nayru to bear the Triforce of Wisdom."

Erith then asked, "Who is your mother?"

Tacka stepped back. "Please don't kill me for not telling you who I truly am. I mean my name is Tacka yes but I've been keeping something a secret until the right time. Now's better than ever I guess while we are talking about parents and everything. So in the end…"

Erith covered his mouth and politely asked again. "Who is your mother? I didn't ask for a life story."

When Erith removed her hand, Tacka took a deep breath in and exhaled slowly, "My mother is Queen Zelda of Hyrule."


End file.
